counterstrike tv state of the nation

Given the deep divisions between the parties, the administration’s reorganization agenda will probably be ignored in Congress. The best hope to avoid that is to copy the Truman-Hoover model, giving up some control of the agenda to a bipartisan commission.

The economics of the opioid crisisRoger Bate | AEIdeas Policymakers have clamped down on prescribing practices of physicians and sanctioned pharmaceutical companies producing vast quantities of opioids. The result has been a lowering of legal opioid sales. Reducing prescriptions of opioids should create fewer addicts in the long run and is probably the right policy approach. But it’s a poisonous short-run trade-off.

‘Dopesick’ and ‘The Addiction Solution’ review: Examining an epidemicSally Satel | The Wall Street Journal The emotional devastation of opioid addiction is staggering. So is the economic fallout. Families can be bankrupted by the cost of in-patient rehab. Sally Satel reviews two books on the epidemic: “Dopesick” by Beth Macy and “The Addiction Solution” by Lloyd I. Sederer.

In a decision filed on July 16, a three-judge panel held that the Federal Housing Finance Agency — the regulator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — was unconstitutionally structured because the director of the agency was appointed for a five-year term and could not be removed from office by the president except “for cause.”

A new report from the World Bank tracks 148 countries, with 96 percent of the world’s population, to answer the age-old question of how much economic opportunity and upward economic mobility a country really offers its citizens.

Eric Hanushek: Economic Mobility Around The Worldinterview with Eric Hanushek via AEIHoover Institution fellow Eric Hanushek joins a panel discussion concerning a report titled “Fair Progress? Economic Mobility Across Generations Around the World.” The panelists suggest local, national, and global policies that could help break the cycle of poverty, paving the way for the next generation to realize their potential and improve their lives.

Ten Commandments Of The Supreme Courtby Victor Davis Hanson via National Review1) Right to Left. The majority of post-war Republican Supreme Court nominees, who were initially perceived as conservative, turned liberal on the bench (Harry Blackmun, William Brennan, David Souter, John Paul Stevens, Earl Warren), or went from right-wing to center-right or centrist (Warren Burger, Sandra Day O’Connor, Anthony Kennedy, John Roberts).

Conservatism's Challenges In The Age Of Trumpby Peter Berkowitz via Real Clear PoliticsIn these confounding times, conservatives would do well to recall that modern conservatism is a creature of confounding times. Both the broad school of politics that emerged in England in the 17th and 18th centuries and the mature, post-World War II American variant arose to combat new threats to freedom -- and freedom’s moral, cultural, and religious preconditions.

The 2018 Medicare Trustees ReportJoseph Antos and Robert E. Moffit | AEI Economic Perspectives Medicare’s financial outlook has deteriorated in the past year. Every year, the program relies more on general revenues to cover its costs. In total, Medicare will receive $324 billion in general revenues this year. That will more than double by 2026. Prompt action is needed to put Medicare on a sound financial footing.

ABSTRACTMedicare’s financial outlook has deteriorated in the past year, according to the latest annual report by the program’s trustees. The Medicare Hospital Insurance trust fund is projected to be depleted in 2026, three years earlier than estimated in last year’s report. That understates the policy challenge. Every year, the program relies more on general revenues to cover its costs. In total, Medicare will receive $324 billion in general revenues this year. That will more than double by 2026. Prompt action is needed to put Medicare on a sound financial footing.Read this publication online.View a printable copy.

New Issue Of Hoover Digest Onlinevia Hoover DigestThe summer issue of Hoover Digest is now available online. The journal focuses on topics both classical—the economy, personal freedom, the role of government—and timely, such as cybersecurity, terrorism, and geopolitical shifts.

THE AMERICAN CONTEXT OF CIVIL SOCIETY By EPPC Hertog Fellow Yuval LevinStanford Social Innovation ReviewIn both the conservative and progressive imagination, civil society is valued—for opposite reasons—as an arbiter between the individual and the national state. But by viewing civil society as the core of America’s social life, we can see our way toward a politics that might overcome some of the dysfunctions of our day. Read More

OHIO TEA LEAVESBy EPPC Senior Fellow Henry OlsenCity JournalForecasts for the upcoming midterm elections rely primarily on the generic congressional ballot poll, but an August special election for a House seat in Ohio might tell us more about the eventual outcome.Read More

US fiscal policy may burst asset bubble Desmond Lachman | Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum If there is one point on which almost all economists can agree, it is that a country’s trade balance is the difference between its savings and its investment rates. By following policies that increase the budget deficit and reduce the country’s savings rate, Washington is increasing the probability that the US will return to the twin deficit problem of the 1980s. That raises the chances that the administration will intensify its protectionist stance on trade policy when the country’s trade deficit widens.

Global Aging And Fiscal Solvencyby Martin Feldstein via Project SyndicateCountries that rely on pay-as-you-go public pension systems are running up against two problems: increasing life expectancy and rising old-age-dependency ratios. How can such systems be sustained without massive tax increases?

Offshore Oil and Natural Gas Drives U.S. Energy & National Security By Jim Webb & Jim Nicholson, RealClearEnergy: “America’s strategic position has improved in recent years due to an “all-of-the-above” energy policy. But we remain vulnerable in an expanding global economy marked by ever-growing energy needs and potentially troublesome energy alliances, such as Russia’s recent accord with OPEC, that have the potential to manipulate the flow of oil.”

America Can Ride The 21st Century's Waves Of Changeby George P. Shultz via The Wall Street JournalThe world is experiencing change of unprecedented velocity and scope. Governments everywhere must develop strategies to deal with this emerging new world. They should start by studying the forces of technology and demography that are creating it.

On Wednesday the Supreme Court ruled in Janus v. AFSCME that public-sector union agency fees are a form of compelled speech and therefore violate the First Amendment. This decision reversed the precedent of Abood v. Detroit Board of Education (1977), which allowed nonmembers to be charged for unions’ collective bargaining efforts. Writing for the Court, Justice Samuel Alito remarked “no reliance interests on the part of public-sector unions are sufficient to justify the perpetuation of the free speech violations that Abood has countenanced for the past 41 years.” Read more here....

The future after JanusNat Malkus | American Enterprise Institute The United States Supreme Court ruled in Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees that agency fees are unconstitutional on First Amendment grounds. Twenty-two states had compelled nonunion teachers to pay agency fees to the union that represented them in contract negotiations. Those agency fees kept teachers union membership, and revenue, high in those states. The consensus is that the Janus ruling will be a major blow to teachers unions. Now, what will happen to teachers unions in a world without agency fees?

Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal EmployeesNat Malkus | AEI video The Supreme Court's ruling in Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) stated that public-sector unions may no longer compel nonmembers to pay agency fees to the union that represents them. Nat Malkus interviews Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner, who was one of the people to initiate the case against AFSCME.

Seven Social Security MythsCharles Blahous, MercatusAmong public policy issues, Social Security is especially beset by myths and urban legends. These myths inhibit the enactment of legislation necessary to close its substantial financing shortfall. Press, public and policy makers alike would do well to disabuse themselves of the following widely circulated canards.

All Downhill for Social Security and Medicare Trust FundsCharles Blahous, E21The 2018 SocialSecurity and Medicaretrustees’ reports have been released. For the first time in several years they contain some big (in addition to their usual bad) news: the combined Social Security trust funds and the Medicare Hospital Insurance (HI) trust fund will begin drawing down their reserves this year, on their respective ways to eventual depletion. In the case of Medicare HI, that depletion is now projected to occur in just eight short years, by 2026. Read more here....

The bad news on entitlements piles upJames C. Capretta | Real Clear Policy Despite a strong economy, entitlement programs have large and growing financial deficits. Unfortunately, the gap between spending and revenue for these programs is likely even larger than the official projections show because of assumed but unrealistic cuts in medical care payment rates and the persistently low birth rates of recent years. As the bad news on entitlement spending and the fiscal outlook rolls in, the silence of the nation’s political leaders is deafening

Social Security reform, back where we startedAndrew G. Biggs | Forbes The Social Security Trustees released their 2018 report on the financial status of the government’s largest program. For the most part, the report showed a holding pattern: no big changes, except that the passage of a year means that we’re one year closer to the Social Security trust funds’ insolvency.